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  • radiomirchi

    Radio Midday relaunches as Go 92.5 FM, targets 25% market share

    May 09, 2002

    City eveninger Mid-day's station becomes the third private FM player in Mumbai to go on air from today.

  • i&b ministry

    I&B, BIS officials to meet 20 August to discuss DTH set top standards

    May 09, 2002

    NEW DELHI: Officials from the information and broadcasting ministry and the Bureau of Indian Standards are slated to

  • Chandra says nyet to DTH, says ad revenues are perking up

    Submitted by ITV Production on May 09, 2002
    News Headline

    Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra today hinted that the group is not immediately interested in starting a direct-to-home (DTH) TV service.
    "DTH is not as big (a technology) as has been made out in India," Chandra told indiantelevision.com on Thursday. "The target market for DTH would be 4-5 million homes under the present economic circumstances," Chandra said pointing out that no matter how much marketing a DTH company does the final target would be what he said.

    However, it is interesting to note that Chandra‘s company was the first to announce its intention to start a DTH service in India, along with Sterling group‘s C. Sivasankaran, when the government had announced the policy guidelines for KU-band DTH services over 18 months back. What is also interesting is that Zee TV‘s former partner Star India has been extremely buoyant about launching a DTH service and its chairman James Murdoch has been very vocal in his opposition to CAS and Indian cable operators.

    Speaking on revival of the economy and its reflection on the ad spend on TV, Chandra felt that advertising revenues have "started looking up." "With new sectors like insurance opening in India and comparatively smaller advertisers (like those selling slippers (footwear), snacks and locally-made undergarments) starting to advertise on TV, ad revenues certainly have been on the upswing in recent times," he said.

    As an example to his theory, Chandra cited the example of Zee TV‘s advertising pattern during early days. "In 1992, when we started, Hindustan Lever accounted for between 40-45 per cent of the total ad revenue of the channel," he pointed out, adding, "The financial year that we closed on March 31, 2002, HLL‘s share has come down to 5-6 per cent. This does not mean that Zee‘s ad revenues have come down. It only means that others too have made inroads."

    Asked what sort of appreciation in ad revenues does he forecasts for Zee Telefilms in the future, Chandra said, "During the current financial year we expect ad revenues to go up between 10-15 per cent."

    Pointing out that TV is slowly attracting ads which otherwise would have gone to other avenues, Chandra said that today TV attracts about 35 per cent of ads from the total ad pie.

  • subhash chandra

    Chandra says nyet to DTH, says ad revenues are perking up

    May 09, 2002

    Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra today hinted that the group is not immediately interested in starting a direct

  • Zee TV chieftain Subhash Chandra backs government's
    CAS initiative

    Submitted by ITV Production on May 09, 2002
    News Headline
    "We support CAS as it is in the overall interest of the industry. Even if 50 per cent of the (38 million) cable homes in the country go in for set top boxes and I get assured revenue out of it, as a broadcaster I am happy"

    Subhash Chandra
    chairman, Zee Telefilms

    Subhash Chandra, chairman of Zee Telefilms, one of the biggest broadcasting companies in India, today set the cat amongst the pigeons when he said that he endorses the government‘s decision in attempting to implement the conditional access system (CAS) as it will result in increased subscription revenues for the Zee Network over a period of time.

    "We support CAS as it is in the overall interest of the industry," Chandra told select journalists in Delhi on Thursday, a day ahead of a meeting being organised by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation on CAS which has started worrying most broadcasters.

    According to Chandra: "Even if 50 per cent of the (38 million) cable homes in the country go in for set top boxes and I get assured revenue out of it, as a broadcaster I am happy."

    Chandra added that like all broadcasters he‘s also "skeptical" of CAS. "But I don‘t fully subscribe to some broadcasters‘ point of view that CAS is not needed at all in India and is not implementable," he added.

    He also said that his company is talking to various financial sources, including banks, to fund part of the investment needed for seeding the market with set top boxes (STBs).

    "Because ultimately the subscriber will have to pay for the STB we‘ll have to see how to make the payment easy for him. If banks finance us we can supply the STBs to subscribers on lease for a nominal monthly rental," he explained.

    Pointing out that through CAS Zee Network would see a substantial hike in subscription revenue, Chandra said, "We at Zee closed the last financial year ended march 31, 2002 with about Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) in subscription revenues. Over the next four-five years we expect this amount to go up to at least Rs 500 crore."

    Chandra also feels that the advent of CAS will benefit the average cable subscriber who will have the option of taking a basic tier of service comprising free-to-air channels and additional tiers of service on payment of some extra amount.

    "CAS would pave the way for various tier of services, including two-way addressability and broadband services, becoming a reality in India over a period of time," the bidi-smoking chairman of Zee Telefilms said.

    Asked what does he think the basic tier service will cost (to be determined by the government as per the amendments to be carried out in the Cable TV Regulation Act, 1995, he said, "I would feel anything between Rs 100- 120 would be a fair amount."

    "We at Zee don‘t see ourselves reverting to being free to air because of CAS. However, we can look at a Zee TV channel with a different set of programming for being part of the basic tier."

    Subhash Chandra
    chairman, Zee Telefilms

    Chandra also said that the cable industry would have to make an investment of about Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) if 50 per cent of the cable and satellite homes are fed with STBs which cost about Rs 4000. He also said that CAS is a win-win situation for everybody -the subscriber pays for what he wants to watch, the cable operator gets an assured income and the broadcasters would not crib about under-declaration by cable operators.

    "At present, I think underdeclaration (by cable operators) amounts to almost 83 per cent," he added.

    Asked by indiantelevision.com, whether he foresees Zee TV, a mass-based entertainment channel, reverting to being free to air to protect its viewership (as all pay channels mandatory have to come through a STB, as per the cabinet decision), Chandra said, "We at ZEE don‘t see ourselves reverting to being free to air because of CAS. However, we can look at a Zee TV channel with a different set of programming for being part of the basic tier."

    Chandra feels that the Indian pay channel market is currently worth about Rs 8,000 crore which is likely to to grow to about Rs 12,000 crore in four to five years with the arrival of CAS.

  • subhash chandra

    Zee TV chieftain Subhash Chandra backs government's CAS initiative

    May 09, 2002

    Subhash Chandra, chairman of Zee Telefilms, one of the biggest broadcasting companies in India, today set the cat amo

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